A hose for a central vacuum system is typically made of plastic and is about 30 feet long. In order to impart strength and flexibility to the hose, it is corrugated, and it is these corrugations in the hose that can scratch and abrade furniture or other surfaces. The corrugation and flexibility of the hose also allows the hose to stretch. One solution to this problem has been to cover the vacuum hose with a sleeve made of a non-abrasive material such as a fabric. A sleeve of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,576 dated Mar. 17, 1992. While effective, sleeve type hose covers have several disadvantages associated with their use. The hose must be threaded through the sleeve, and for the purpose of covering a 30 foot hose, the treading operation is awkward and tedious at best. Because vacuum hoses have metal fittings on each end for attachment purposes, the sleeve must have a circumference sufficient to readily slip over the end fittings. This requirement in turn means that the sleeve is circumferentially oversize in relation to its fit about the corrugated hose itself. Accordingly, prior art sleeve type covers need to have means at each end of the sleeve to secure it to the hose, otherwise there is a tendency for the sleeve to slip partly off an end of the hose particularly when the hose is unattached. As the hose cover itself will become soiled with use over time, it is desirable to be able to easily remove and reinstall the cover so that it may be washed when it becomes soiled. Clearly, the sleeve type hose cover does not lend itself to easy installation and removal.
Another sleeve of this type is disclosed in Canadian patent 2,195,275 dated Oct. 6, 1998. While this effective sleeve type makes installing and removing easy it fails in the general use of the covered hose. Because the hose stretches and the quilted material doesn't, while in use the quilted material hose cover slides (creeps) down the hose and leaves some portion of corrugated hose exposed. In addition, the manufacturers of the various hoses in the market have different tolerances from +/−6″ to +/−12″. This causes the above-type of hose cover to have bunching of excess hose cover martial to storage of hose cover material leaving some corrugated hose exposed.
There is a need in the art for a vacuum hose cover that can help to address some of the challenges noted above.
Similar reference numerals may have been used in different figures to denote similar components.